Just like Dracula had said, a servant (luckily not another werewolf) came to retrieve Alucard when suppertime rolled around, bringing him to the "great master Dracula's" study room, where all he did was stare sadly at a fire in his large chair. That's what Alucard expected him to be doing anyway, but he was in fact doing quite the opposite.
Dracula was standing, tall and proud, in front the portrait of the blonde's mother. And instead of a gaze full of melancholy, the Lord of Darkness' eyes held a strange determination.
A small table and another large chair had been brought in and set in the center of the room.
On the table sat two wine glasses filled with red liquid. In one, presumably his father's, Alucard could discern the smell of old wine. His own glass seemed to hold a juice of sorts. Cranberry.
It seemed Dracula had remembered Alucard's hatred for blood.
Plates filled with crisp meats, ripe cheeses and fruits, and crackers for the side decorated the rest of the blank space on the table. Alucard could not spot a food that he did not like.
I bet he wants forgiveness.
The servant left almost immediately, leaving the two of them in familiar, tense silence. Neither talked until Dracula ushered his son to the newly added chair in the room.
Was Dracula really trying to be an actual father? No. No way. Not Dracula. He had already gone insane with grief, so randomly and suddenly regaining his mind after trying to kill him just the other night...impossible. It must be a trick.
"Sit. Eat." To anyone else, it would've sounded like an order. But to Alucard who had grew up with all the different tones in Dracula's voice...it was soft. It felt wrong.
A low growl rumbled deep within the dhampir's throat as he sat stiffly at the edge of the thickly cushioned chair. A small ache ran through his head as he furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. Just for a second he forgot about the large, marring gash on his face. That slight bliss was quick to leave.
Alucard waited until Dracula took a seat in the chair opposite of him before asking the question even the Lord of Darkness might not've had an answer for.
"Why am I here?"
Dracula seemed surprised at the question. He had gotten worse over the years with hiding his emotions. How one of his generals had not found out his weaknesses yet and killed him, Alucard didn't know. Perhaps he'd be the only one to dare. But...he couldn't kill him now. Even though Dracula was weakened, he was still stronger than the dhampir. He needed Trevor and Sypha. If he tried to go about this alone...maybe he could actually die.
Not like anyone would miss me. Trevor would get over my death rather quick with some booze and women. Sypha'd probably stick with Trevor, or head back to her fellow Speakers. Either way, she'd be too busy to remember me for long. And who else do I have left? Dracula? Yeah, right. A thought raced across the front of his mind. Would Father mourn me...? Would that be his final trigger to-
"-Adrian."
Alucard's head snapped up.
"W-what?" He cursed himself for the stutter in his voice. You cannot be weak...!
"Something's troubling you. Mind telling me of your plight?"
Dracula could always read him best, Alucard could never truly hide something from the elder, yet he still chose to keep his thoughts, secrets, and plans as personal and under-wraps as possible. It would be foolish of him to give his father an opening. 'Twould only be in his poor interest to do so.
So instead of letting show his true troubles, Alucard spoke of a lesser problem that was bugging him.
"You are acting strange."
Dracula made a hum of question. "Oh? And I'm guessing that it perplexes you?"
This wasn't a safe topic, emotions. But it could be worse. So this was the safest option despite the thick feeling of dread and anxiousness weaving itself into the bones of his spine. He stuck with it, acting as cautious and reserved as usual.
"More akin to uneasiness. It is very much unlike you to behave in this manner," Alucard replied.
"I took what you said into account, my son," Dracula began. "And you are correct. I shouldn't have locked you up unable to meander the halls of your home. It was unreasonable of me." He bent forward. "Please forgive me, Adrian."
The unease and dread that was slowly curling up into his lungs seemed to thicken, making breathing hard to accomplish.
Something was very wrong. It was clearly apparent to Alucard now. No...it wasn't clear. It was more like foggy; the mist blocking the details of the image, yet the outline could still be seen.
The dhampir squinted his eyes in suspicion. Since when did Dracula say thank you?
"Who are you?" Alucard kept his voice calm and composed, but it was clearly hostile.
"What are you talking about, Adrian? That's a stupid question." A heavy frown settled on the elder's lips.
"You're not my father. You've been too nice. He never says "I'm sorry" unless it was for an important reason. You...you just threw it around haphazardly. Ask anyone in this castle and they'll say that Dracula is a cruel, merciless being. "Sorry" is not a part of his vocabulary, especially for me, his mistake of a son." Alucard's words came out in a snarl at the end before he stood up and grabbed the carving knife off of a silver platter.
Dracula stood up with an ominous chuckle, before something Alucard didn't think would happen occurred. To be honest, he didn't know what to expect, but it was for certain not the thing he thought.
The tall figure shed the skin of the vampire king, and the covering turned to fine grains of dust, leaving behind a pale face, grotesque monster. The eyes were sunken in, pupils non existent, and the face the color of ash. Black lines trailed upwards over a large, bald head, but that was about all Alucard could make out before a thick, purple fog swept through the room. It seemingly came from nowhere and smelled god-awful, but it was gone as quick as it had arrived, leaving the room empty and reeking of a rotten stench.
The dhampir could only stand there speechless as one thought ran through his mind; The fuck just happened?
Darkness. Darkness all around. There were no smells, no sights, no feelings. Just darkness. It was an endless void that Dracula found himself tossed into without warning, or even memories of how he got into said void. Was he sleeping? Dead? Cursed? He knew not. It was a mystery that ate at the walls of his mind. It was unbearable. Dracula needed to know. Being ignorant was a torture he would only wish on his worst enemies, and they were already ignorant, so there was not much point.
Oh, great. I'm starting to lose my reasonings...
The last thing he remembered was going to Lisa's laboratory. Opening a few books, reminiscing, and making dinner plans for the next few nights to start to make up for his mistakes with Adrian.
Most would expect him to shout angrily at the unseeable walls of his shadowy prison, announce his title and the punishments that he would give to those keeping him captive. But he knew from experience that that direction would get him nowhere. More often than not, the people who capture others are well aware of who they are and what they can do. So Dracula instead started to walk around in this place, exploring the environment, and secretly hoping not to get lost or run into an invisible wall.
Luckily neither of those things happened. Yet what WAS happening was just about as bad. No matter how much Dracula walked, or ran, or sprinted, he never seemed to get any farther in front of him. He blamed it on the fact that the whole room was of the same material and color. It was rather disorienting.
Accepting his defeat a few minutes later, the vampire sat on the ground, his eye twitching from mild frustration. The subconscious movement stopped, however, when Dracula realized that the ground that he was sitting on felt cool to the touch, even through his thick winter cape and clothes. Almost like water, yet cold like ice, somehow supporting his body mass.
An idea came to mind. He couldn't just walk his way out of there, the room seemingly having no end, and it didn't seem as though someone was going to come and retrieve him from his shadowy prison. But the ground...it was the only thing that seemed to be there. It was cold as ice and Dracula wondered if it would break like ice, too.
He gave a tentative tap with one of his claws, hearing nothing come from the contact and feeling no change in the material it was made of. Going a step further, he slammed his fist into the ground, feeling the force of the hit bounce back up into his bones. Still nothing.
Last try, he thought. Last try before I give up.
This time, the vampire brought both hands above his head, and brought them down with the most strength he could muster. But, even though he felt the impact in the way his arms felt as though he just spent a whole night training, nothing happened to the ground. Almost as though it didn't register what had happened.
Dracula let out a sigh as he fell back. He was so confused and just wanted to get back to the castle even if...even if here, in this black void, Lisa's death didn't exist, he didn't hurt Adrian, and he wasn't waging war on humans. He was just a man here, with none of his past mistakes. But that meant he could redeem his mistakes, couldn't try to make things right. He wanted to go back so that he could do those things.
Dracula rolled over onto his side and was just going to start thinking of different forms of apologies to say to his son and how not to screw them up, but the appearance of a small, familiar looking wood door a few feet away in the darkness stopped those thoughts.
Well, I guess I was wrong in thinking no one was going to come and get me, Dracula thought bitterly as he got up. Let's see who this madman behind this is.
He went through the door.
A/N
This took...so long. I'm so sorry. I've had writer's block for a couple months, but, uh, yeah I can't excuse this. Almost a year I've neglected this fic. I'm surprised anyone still reads it. But I finally finished this chapter! Hallelujah! And let's just hope the weirdness in the next size in this draft doesn't carry over to the posted thing coz I can't fix it! I hope that anyone who actually still remembers that this fic exists or for any new readers, that you enjoyed it and are staying safe and as happy as you can in quarantine/lockdown.
Have a good day/night!
